Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Thursday, February 03, 2011


Flying Down To Rio --- Part Two






Hard-luck RKO had dropped from profits of three million in 1930 to ten million lost for 1932, with receivership a next stop come 1933, despite turnstiles spinning for Little Women and King Kong. Those were but two of an otherwise desultory lot numbering forty-nine released in 1933 (eight were independent productions RKO distributed), most done for smaller change per volume goals set by head of production Merian C. Cooper. RKO was backed by corporate giant RCA, but limitless $ didn't come with it. Profitable for '33 was Morning Glory, Ann Vickers, and Professional Sweetheart, with Christopher Strong, Sweepings, and The Ace Of Aces representing loss. Biggest negative spenders of the year would be King Kong ($672K) and Flying Down To Rio ($462K). A lot rode on getting the musical into a money class with Warners' 42nd Street and Golddiggers Of 1933, two that had revitalized this genre over a just-past season. Rio called itself the first indoor aerial circus and girl show ever produced, this referring to chorines on plane wings that climaxed the film and dominated most of its publicity, all faked in airplane hangers with aircraft suspended off the floor, thus "indoor" aspect of the circus. Still, it was sporting of RKO to reveal tricks behind their third-act spectacle, King Kong having given them basis for pride in FX work done on the lot.








They'd sent cameramen to Rio for background shots to establish locale and supply footage for process screens the actors could stand before. What came back was effective enough to make some think a whole cast/crew had made the trip. Finished product to rival Rio Rita's stand-up boxoffice was hope expressed by RKO. Certainly they'd not had a musical so successful since that 1929 blockbuster ($2.4 million worldwide). A Radio City Music Hall premiere was deemed appropriate, Rio to be the 5,945 seat palace's Christmas attraction. Surface-wise, this looked to be a printing machine for cash, what with holidays and infinite space within New York's most celebrated venue, but size was the rub for this biggest and most expense-laden of barns. Variety assessed the situation a few weeks ahead of Rio's opening, calling Radio City's the largest fixed overhead of any two theatres in the history of the business (its pair of screens including the Music Hall and a smaller RKO Roxy). RKO was obliged to tender a million dollar yearly rental to the owning Rockefeller family, and there was debt of $600,000 beyond this payable to RCA and the Rockefellers. 1933 had already run up an operating deficit of $135,000 on a venue that was eating up an estimated $105,000 per week just to stay open --- and these were Depression dollars.





























Flying Down To Rio was the feature part of a two-and-a-half hour Yuletide gala that would become a Music Hall tradition. Best seats were $1.65 and there wasn't a more lavish revue in town. Notable among the supporting bill was Walt Disney's latest Silly Symphony, The Night Before Christmas, a Technicolor reel amounting to an event in itself, as there were no short subjects so eagerly anticipated as Disney's. This one was especially well-received for following-up Santa's Workshop, the previous year's first leg of St. Nick's journey with his toys. Radio City engagements were generally limited to a week, few shows able fill so many seats beyond that. Flying Down To Rio would be only a second to do so, according to Variety (Little Women the first). Its initial week receipts of $100,000 translated to Rio seating apx. 165,000 patrons. This number removed from prospective customers explains why a second week is invariably doubtful, said the trade, except where the hold-over session includes a holiday. Closest Broadway competition was the Paramount Theatre's Alice In Wonderland bow, at which Mary Pickford appeared to perform a brief sketch and convey holiday wishes to packed houses. The deal gave Pickford a guaranteed $10,000 plus a split of grosses past $60,000. It took big money, even then, to launch films upon waves of perceived success, that perception vital to bookings and terms negotiated down the line.













































Two weeks at the Music Hall put Flying Down To Rio in a winner's circle and start toward worldwide $1.5 million in rentals. Some have written it "saved RKO from bankruptcy," though receivership was underway by time of Rio's release. The Carioca rage kept the film on a public's radar, RKO touring their fifty "Original Carioca Dancers" from the film through presentation houses during 1934. Flying Down To Rio would be remembered as the musical that invented Fred and Ginger even as merits past that became more obscure. MGM's The Bandwagon in 1953 harked back when it made reference to played-by-Astaire Tony Hunter's "Swinging Down To Panama," its artifacts being sold now that Tony, and his hopelessly old-fashioned movies, are in eclipse. If Flying Down To Rio was a relic, at least folks still had fun watching, with television having taken 50's receipt of most 30's song and dance fests. Rio would maintain distinction as the one with scantily-clad girls stood on airborne wings, irresistible kitsch that endeared camp-seekers and kept Rio flying on revival screens. The iconic one-sheet, among most sought-after by collectors, fetched a whopping $239,000 at 2008 auction. Double that and you could have made the movie again in 1933. Original Rio elements seem happily to survive, if Netflix's HD stream of late is any indication. Nice to know there are at least some vintage RKO's that can put a 2011 glow on.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Little Women and King Kong... were but two of an otherwise desultory lot numbering forty-nine released in 1933."

If by "desultory" you mean "disappointing in progress, performance, or quality," I would have to disagree on another 1933 Radio release, the sublime "Diplomaniacs." And I'll bet it turned a profit, too.

But if by "desultory" you mean "lacking in visible order," that would indeed describe "Diplomaniacs," and that is one of the reasons it's one of the funniest comedies of the era.--Mark H.

11:05 PM  
Anonymous sjack said...

Netflix has a HD (high definition stream? I just canceled my subscription due to frustation with it's online offerings. While there are alot of classic films offered, it's just a drop in the bucket compared to what they'll send you on DVD. And many of the old films that are only available on DVD are just as obscure (if not more), that what is offered via streaming. I don't know if it's rights issues or what, but I feel that they should be able to offer most pre 80's film online. This was a major disappointment for me.

12:30 PM  
Blogger radiotelefonia said...

I question the fact that RIO RITA was a worldwide success; it may have been a financial hit, but RKO lost money the time.

In Argentina, its exhibition was an absolute disaster. RKO delivered to distributor Julián Ajuria a version dubbed to Spanish and, for that reason, the film was completely rejected by audiences, being pulled out of exhibition rather fast, and critics and harsh words towards the film were published.

12:45 PM  
Blogger MDG14450 said...

Granted not everything I could probably want to watch is available for streaming on Netflix, but I can probably watch 5-6 movies from it a week--with some re-watches in there--and get through the next couple of years. And by that time, I'm sure the online movie selection--whether through Netflix or another provider--will be a lot more extensive.

1:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rio elements might well have survived and I had a poor quality VHS once but now have Warner's Archive print which DD made me return because 30mins in it jammed and that was it and I could not fix it. I have fixed other WAC that were faulty. However, this is not the complete film. It is missing a lot. The good-old MOMA in NYC is said to have had the full road-show version in their archives but they loaned it out and it was never seen again. Perhaps typical of them because they had at least 4 1940s archive fires and returned a number of actress-deposited films from the 1920s at one stage to Warner Bros who are said to have junked them. A large percentage of RKO titles appeared on laserdisc and eventually went out to clear at US$5(Turner owned them by this time). I paid about A$30 for these imported by a shop who were raided and closed down after he had a mysterious fire(I had one in my record store about 5 miles or less away just before this event. Laserdiscs, not for sale, did not burn in my storage). Over its life RKO did produce a lot of good films, even if not excellent, they were at least enjoyable. It is believed the previous Film Booking Office(Pathe/FBO) archive was melted for the silver by an executive after a TV series with writer/collector Joe Frankin failed to get off the ground. The archive was in NYC, apparently & never seen again. There was an RKO negatives fire around 1970 when Citizen Kane's original camera negative was lost.

I am happy that the horrible TV prints have been better presented for Laserdisc & DVD. The negatives had been cut to alter the openings for the C&C Cola Movietime openings(there were two such I know of). Their shorts were mediocre but interesting in many cases and I have a lot of them on DVD thru a site that calls itself RKO.

I have seen the old studio that is alongside? Paramount who use the lot now after Desilu. Whether Desi really destroyed film found in the two studios he got(also the Pathe in Culver City) is open to conjecture. Desi & Lucy actually had three at one time buying the one they had previously used before buying the RKO property assets.

Somewhere in my collection I have a 1939 Pressbook for RKO releases in Australia I got from a customer whose dad was a theatre manager.

4:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Flying Down to Rio" includes a rare screen appearance by the great Etta Moten. The Blondell-Moten tag team on "Remember My Forgotten Man" in "Gold Diggers of 1933" is, in my opinion, one of the maximum moments of Hollywood's first decade of sound.

Thanks, John, for a superb website.

I will now resume lurk mode.

12:52 PM  
Anonymous Jim Lane said...

Speaking strictly for myself, Anonymous, anyone who appreciates Etta Moten can lurk anywhere he wants.

3:23 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024
  • April 2024
  • May 2024
  • June 2024
  • July 2024
  • August 2024
  • September 2024